


Chasing the Sun

by orphan_account



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Country AU, Krypton
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 16:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7539949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alura traced the outline of her glass as she watched the red sink further and further into the West. The next time the sun traced its way across the sky, Alura would be sending her only daughter to chase after it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Krypton as a country would be super fascinating to me. I like the idea of Krypton once being a Soviet Union-controlled nation that Alura's generation led a rebellion against in their youth, and then in turn, Non and Astra leading a rebellion against the (semi)new government a few years later. This is just a thing on that.

The sun was almost an almost violent shade of red as it set over the sea, casting drastic shadows over the courtyard. Alura traced the outline of her glass as she watched the red sink further and further into the West. The next time the sun traced its way across the sky, Alura would be sending her only daughter to chase after it. With luck, she would follow only a few days after that, but that would only be if all things went to plan. Alura smirked as she brought her wine to her lips, well aware of how unlikely that was.

In truth, luck would ensure that no missile found its way into the side of Kara’s plane, that she would be allowed to leave Krypton in the relative peace that her age, her innocence should have provided. Luck would allow Kara to grow up safe in the home of friends, if not family, and give her the knowledge of Alura’s fate. Perhaps it would be a tragic ending to her already bittersweet life, but Alura would rather Kara know than suffer through the endless void of uncertainty.

Alura knew all too well the burdens of growing up under uncertainty. Her mother’s and father’s presence in her life had wavered constantly, one being a loyalist to the old government and the other a fierce advocate towards the rebel cause. And then, after leaving home, Alura knew the uncertainty of a partisan’s life — where one’s life could be snatched away in half a breath. Even despite the great joy they brought her, Alura’s marriage had been a rushed event that lead to an unplanned pregnancy. Of course, it had been a welcomed symbol to the revolution — the first daughter of the Republic of Krypton, born to two of the cause’s leaders — but throughout it all, Alura had been standing on shaky ground. And for thirteen years, Alura tried to build a nation out of smoke and ash. It was a feat wrought in incertitude, but for the greater good, Alura persevered.

The one consistency had been her sister. Her stalwart guide through the tumultuous years of their childhood and the unspeakable years after, where blood and chaos consumed everything. Alura had taken on the same role for her sister, or at least, she had tried, but there was no way to repay her for the years she had spent as Kara’s godmother, watching over the child when Alura could not. A gap had grown between them in recent years, though. No matter how hard Alura attempted to bridge the chasm between them, no matter how dear she still held her sister to her heart, none of it had been enough. But perhaps their shared love for Kara would be enough to guarantee the child’s safe passage away from Krypton.

However, even if Alura had faith that Astra would turn a blind eye to Kara’s departure, she had no such faith in Non. Non, the foolish, hate-filled man who had driven the wedge between Alura and Astra. A child’s life held no particular value to him. He would argue that it was one life weighed against the lives of thousands, but it was a weak excuse to personally harm Alura. Even his way of doing so meant killing off his own wife’s niece.

Alura looked back up at the horizon and wondered if Astra was looking at the same blood-dyed sky. It was a fitting scene. Two revolutions within as many decades, one in which Alura had fought against her father and now in the second, she fought her own twin. Alura laughed bitterly at the thought.

“May we find peace in our times,” Alura muttered into her glass, repeating the words Astra had once told her. But that had been before Non — before a military coup undermined the tentative peace they had struggled to achieve. Smirking in anger rather than amusement, Alura sighed. “May Kara find peace in her times.”

After Jor-El’s and Lara’s assassinations—Alura still struggled to accept that fact, that her own brother and sister-in-law had been killed while touring the eastern border of Krypton—Alura and Zor-El had sent Kal-El to the United States. A close friend of the Els, J’onn J’onzz, promised that he would find a safe place for the boy until either Alura or Zor-El were able to come for him. And now, Kara was about to follow her cousin out of the country and hopefully to safety.

Alura jumped lightly as she felt a hand rest against her shoulder. Looking up, she was met up with the tired eyes of her husband and the new lines of worry upon his face. He did not bother to smile as he took the seat next to her and poured himself a glass of wine.

“I just received word that Non’s taken control over Argo City.” His voice was little more than a whisper. It shook, though whether out of exhaustion or emotion, Alura was not sure.

“And Astra?”

“I do not know,” Zor-El admitted. “The report just arrived. We should know more soon.”

Alura nodded weakly. The sky had turned a murky shade of violet, with the sun just beyond the curve of the earth. It was Alura who had always been drawn towards the last moments of the sunset, while Astra had loved the sun’s first appearance in the sky.

“Is Kara still asleep?” It was the last time she’d be able to speak of her daughter while knowing of her location and being reassured of her safety. News of her brother-in-law’s betrayal could wait just a bit longer.

A small smile found its way onto Zor-El’s lips at that. “Last I checked, yes.”

“Good,” Alura said, though a large part of her wished Kara were awake so that she might hold her close and listen to one of Kara’s stories before she was whisked away. “You should sleep, too, love.”

“As should you,” Zor-El quipped with more humor than either of them had managed in the past few weeks. “We need to be at the air field in five hours.”

Five hours. Five hours and her only child would be whisked away, to safety, yes, but still away from her. Zor-El watched as Alura worried her bottom lip for a long moment before saying, “It’s not too late for you to go with her.”

“Yes, it is.” It was her twin leading the rebels towards the capitol and it was Alura’s responsibility, as the President of Krypton, to keep the coup from succeeding. If such a thing were possible.

Zor-El shrugged, already aware that arguing the point would be fruitless. He finished the liquid in his glass and stood once more, stalking towards the entrance of their home. “I am going to bed. The guards have orders to wake me once more news of Non arrives.”

“Find me once it does,” Alura ordered. Zor-El grunted in acknowledgment before closing the doors behind him and disappearing into the hallways. Alura finished her wine in silence and a few minutes later, retreated into the house as well. Rather than seek our her own bed, though, Alura walked impatiently towards Kara’s bedroom.

The door squeaked as Alura pushed it open, but Kara did not stir until Alura sat tentatively on the edge of the bed and lifted a hand to brush back blonde hair. “I did not mean to wake you,” Alura whispered fondly.

Kara did not say anything in response. Instead, she flung herself into her mother’s arms and held her impossibly close, terrified of the distance that would be between them in the morning. Grateful for a moment of quiet, a memory of tenderness in the midst of violence, Alura wrapped her arms around Kara and buried her nose in the soft hair.

“I love you,” she whispered. “So much, my sweet, darling girl.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Kara repeated for the nth time. “I want to stay with you.”

_I don’t want you to leave, either_ , Alura thought meekly, but that was not an option. “I know, but you will be safe with your cousin.” She could promise Kara that she and Zor-El would follow soon enough, but in all likelihood that was not the truth, and she would not lie to her child. “Please try to understand, Kara. I need you to be safe.”

Kara’s response was a soundless cry and shaking limbs. Despite her breaking heart, Alura whispered soft words of comfort in Kara’s ears throughout the night, eventually falling asleep while curled around her daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

Quiet was a sensation Astra had long since forgotten, if she had ever known it at all. The few silences Astra knew had been filled with tension and unspoken threats, leading her to find more comfort in noise. Despite the chaos that often came with it, there was something grounding in noise. There was life in sound, for the dead were quiet.

Astra’s favorite sounds were always the small, soft ones that so often went unnoticed. In Kandor, once the city had been rebuilt and people felt safe enough to once more engage in public activities, Astra would take Kara with her to the History Museum — a building that had managed to stay standing with most of its artifacts intact throughout the Civil War. Listening to Kara’s happy sputtering had always brought a smile to Astra’s face, as had listening to the shuffling sounds of people milling about the cultural center. It was a healthy sign, a sign that Krypton was returning to a semblance of normality.

Up until the last year, it had been Astra’s greatest joy to indulge on weekend trips with Kara to various spots throughout the city. With changing political winds, fewer and fewer citizens spent their time as such, but Astra refused to deny herself that one pleasure until strictly necessary. That necessity had come seven months ago, when Non took control of Kryptonopolis, killing both Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van in the process.

It had been difficult to follow him with the knowledge that their blood was on his hands, albeit indirectly. Though she outranked him in the military, he had a devoted following, and his cause was one that took root in much of the population. The changes Alura In-Ze promised upon her presidency went largely unfulfilled and the majority of power was still concentrated amongst Kandor’s senators and judges.

_We did not fight for this_ , Non had sneered angrily, and Astra was inclined to agree. For however much she loved her sister, Alura’s assumption to power had blinded her to the truth of Krypton’s situation.Though the major cities had started a proper recovery, those in the rural areas of Krypton still struggled to make ends meet. They had fought to put power back into the hands of the people. Astra would continue to fight for that goal, even if it meant turning against her own blood.

Yet she was not heartless. Jor-El’s and Lara’s deaths had shocked her, especially with the knowledge that their little son, Kal-El, was left an orphan from it. She had never been particularly close to Alura’s in-laws, not beyond what was strictly necessary. In fact, Jor-El’s presence often left a bad taste in Astra’s mouth, but Lara was kind enough, as had their infant boy been, too. Their deaths had left Astra tossing through many sleepless nights, but there were always casualties in war, and Astra could not reject that fact simply because the casualties were close to her. In the first rebellion, she had survived her father’s death. If Jor-El and his family was the worst loss that Astra suffered, so be it.

Astra exhaled audibly into the empty room — a makeshift office Argo City’s library. It was a convenient headquarters and once, not so long ago, had been an eloquent building filled with the sort of books Astra would once purchase for Kara. Kara and Alura were the worst casualties Astra could suffer, for yes, even though the chasm between Astra and Alura was impossible to cross, Astra did not want to lose her.

Rather than sit in the silence of her own thoughts, Astra grabbed her coat from the desk and began to pace the hallways. Due to her rank, she was careful to avoid the more crowded halls in which she would be either avoided or pestered, but she needed some sound to fill the void. The shuffle of papers or scuff of boots against the floor — anything that put an end to the sudden silence Astra found herself in.

A young cadet scurried out of her way as she rounded the corner. Astra passed the cowering figure with hardly so much as a glance, though she wondered casually whether or not the boy believed in their cause as she had some fifteen years ago.

Non was a firm believer in the youths’ ability to bring about change. They were eager, energized, and had a genuine desire for to leave their mark upon the world. The perfect harbingers of change. Astra could not help but agree with Non on the matter. Astra and Alura had been only twenty-one when they first joined the rebellion and Astra remembered the majority of her fellow partisans being around the same age, with only a few officers in their older years. But they had been fighting as a group of rag-tag volunteers, most of whom had never held a gun before, instead of the well trained and well equipped army that Astra and Non stood at the helm of.

_Thirty-five and already Generals and Presidents. Father would be proud_ , Astra mused. Alura had taken the presidency four years ago, while Astra had been promoted to General three years past. It was a symptom of so many of the older generation being sympathizers to the old regime or having died in the fighting, but an impressive feat, nonetheless. Of course, In-Ze would not have been proud of his daughters—not for overthrowing the very government he’d fought and died to protect—and Astra knew this well. _Why should he be, though? We failed to create a better world._

A better world in which Kara and her generation would be able to participate openly and freely, without fear. It was not, Alura thought, such a strange thing to ask for. Krypton had long since fallen behind the times, suffering under the reign of the Soviets. Even after the USSR had formally been disbanded, Krypton had stayed firmly under the thumb of its ghost. The First Republic of Krypton had lasted only a handful of years due to its tyrannical ways, and with the second civil war in less than twenty years, the Second Republic was doomed to fall with only slightly more success to its name.

Astra found herself in front of a large painting from the early 19th century, when the monarchy still ruled. The House of El had been a cadet branch of the royal family and commissioned the library, Astra recalled suddenly, as an attempt to show some good will towards the people. Astra had always thought it unwise of Alura to marry someone who bore the name of El due to their monarchistic origins, but Alura had been young and in love. And pregnant, of course. Even if the advice had been sound, for a resentment amongst the population still existed against the House of El, Astra found she could no longer stand by it. After all, it was Alura’s union with Zor-El that had led to Kara and for all the man’s faults, he was a good father.

“It is a beautiful painting,” Non’s voice came from behind her. “A shame that site no longer exists.”

The forest that the painting depicted had been torn down some hundred years after the artist captured it and neither Non nor Astra had ever set eyes on it. “A shame indeed,” Astra agreed softly.

There was no edge to her voice, which seemed to surprise Non. That had not spoken out of a political capacity in some time, during which Astra was always sharp and direct, but in front of the painting and with glazed eyes, she did not have the energy to keep up such a pretense.

“I am sorry,” he said lowly. The reason for his apology went unsaid and Astra did not bother to question it. There were too many things they had to apologize for and before the war’s end, Astra was sure there would be much more.

“As am I,” she whispered, unsure and uncaring if he heard. “As am I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Now I officially have to decide whether/how to continue this. So many ideas, not enough energy to write them all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm debating whether or not I want to continue this, and even if so, I don't know if I want this to be a prequel to Kara's adult life or continue on with Alura and Astra's arc (not that it wouldn't be mentioned in the other version of things, too).
> 
> Alura being a young mother was hopefully well-implied, as Astra still has to look kinda young once Kara turns 25, right? Right. Anywho -- if I do continue this in future years, it'd probably be either a Supercat story or a General Danvers story. Maybe both, leaning towards the second. We'll see.


End file.
